Using Scent?

[Otter17]

I’m fishing a small river/creek for smallies. I’ve done pretty good over the years using baits and lures on their own.

 

What are you guys’ thoughts on using scent? Could this help produce more takes and fish?

 

I’ve got the gulp alive spray. And another popular brands crawdad spray. I’ve just never really used them.

 

Maybe afraid they will cause bass to turn away. Lo! I know that sounds stupid. Just don’t know if the stuff actually works.

Whats you guys’ thoughts, and have you developed confidence in any scents?

 

Thankyou

 

Ray

[Spankey]

I’ve been using it for years. Does it work. Does it help. I do think it does not hurt. Some baits that have an attractant in them I do not put it on. Example a Berkley PowerWorm or a Max Scent Worm. I don’t put it on any crankbait or spinnerbaits. Majority of my softbait fishing and jigs. Try it. Might just mask your scent on your hands. Cheap enough to try. 

[BoatSquirrel]

I try to use scents as often as I can.  Anything that will possibly trigger a strike or keep a fish from spitting my bait out deserves a place in my boat.  Plus its not like its particularly expensive, right?

[A-Jay]

I use Megastrike Original & Crayfish scent when target both brown & green bass.

I have a ton of confidence in both products.

They really work for me - 

I can not say if I would catch bass without it, 

because I slather it on everything . . . 

YMMV

 

A-Jay

[Otter17]

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

I use Megastrike Original & Crayfish scent when target both brown & green bass.

I have a ton of confidence in both products.

They really work for me - 

I can not say if I would catch bass without it, 

because I slather it on everything . . . 

YMMV

 

A-Jay

Thankyou kindly AJ! ?? I’ll be picking some of that stuff up. 

[roadwarrior]

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

I use Megastrike Original & Crayfish scent when target both brown & green bass.

I have a ton of confidence in both products.

They really work for me - 

I can not say if I would catch bass without it, 

because I slather it on everything . . . 

YMMV

 

A-Jay

Me too!

[Smokinal]

I use Megastrike as well.

Scents do a couple of things that can be beneficial to us fishermen.

First, they can/do cover human scent...gas, oil, sunscreen, egg Mcmuffins, gatorade etc...

Second, if that scent makes a fish hold a bait just a fraction of a second longer, allowing you to feel a bite and set a hook, it was worth putting on the bait in the first place.

[A-Jay]

23 minutes ago, Smokinal said:

I use Megastrike as well.

Scents do a couple of things that can be beneficial to us fishermen.

First, they can/do cover human scent...gas, oil, sunscreen, egg Mcmuffins, gatorade etc...

Second, if that scent makes a fish hold a bait just a fraction of a second longer, allowing you to feel a bite and set a hook, it was worth putting on the bait in the first place.

Agreed ~ 

Additionally, I like the fact that the Megastrike add some "Slickness" to the bait.

Stout bass can clinch down with their crushers with quite a bit of pressure and I'm often not using the heaviest gear.

So over coming that to get a hook in them can be a challenge.

I'll use a tube as an example - had many fish lock up on one, pull me around for a minute and then come to the top and give me my tube back - Hate that.

The Megastrike seems to have improved that.

Can't say for sure if it's because they are holding it longer or if it's sliding enough to set the hook.

Either way, I'm not complaining as much.

A-Jay

 

[Jaderose]

Use MegaStrike on skirted baits.  JJ's on plastics

[Hammer 4]

Long time ago, Bobby whipped me up some Megastrike trout scent..Stuff was killer on soft swimbaits. Wish I still had some...sigh.

[Jaderose]

12 hours ago, Jaderose said:

Use MegaStrike on skirted baits.  JJ's on plastics

This should have said I USE Megastrike on skirted baits and JJ's on soft plastics.  I'm not telling anyone to do anything.  Just what works for me.  

[Otter17]

6 hours ago, Jaderose said:

This should have said I USE Megastrike on skirted baits and JJ's on soft plastics.  I'm not telling anyone to do anything.  Just what works for me.  

Didn’t take it that way Jaderose. Yur all good! ??

[NHBull]

I also use megastrike.  I can't  say for certain that it works. In my mind, I am covering my scent.  I want to believe they may hold it longer and I know it helps baits come through  grass better 

[Brad Reid]

The best I've used in homemade.

 

Buy the cheapest little can of Sardines in oil you can find. They'll be the stinkiest and most broken up ones (If you want to eat fabulous Sardines, get King Oscars!!!). Anyway, advert aside, just open them up (outside to keep your spouse from divorcing you!!!) and drop then in to a plastic container. I use empty coffee containers. Add just a bit of cheap veggie oil, any will do, and take a fork and sort of mash this up. 

 

I set this in my kayak so I can dip a plastic into it, move my rod tip out of the vessel and shake it a bit, then make my cast. You can actually see the oil coming off the plastic for many casts.

 

Seems natural to me that fish will be attracted to what is essentially a salty bait fish.

 

Brad

[Sam]

As stated above, it boils down to confidence.

 

If you have confidence in using a scent then go for it.

 

I use Megastrike and JJ's Magic. Do they work? I have no idea but at least I have confidence in my bait presentation when I add these scents.

 

In his book, Knowing Bass, The Scientific Approach to Catching More Fish, Dr. Keith Jones of Berkeley research has a chapter on  Chemoreception, or taste.  It is a fantastic read and Dr. Jones tells us what his research has proven in a controlled environment.

 

Check this out and you can then decide if using scents is a good idea:

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-011-2332-7_14

 

Good luck.

[JustJames]

I don’t believe 100% in scent catch more fish but I do believe in location. I don’t even use scent for most trip. With all that said for bass, I have Megastrike, Procure, JJ magic and 3 Spike-it Pens, For crappie I have 3 jars or nibbles, powerbait attractant and Slab sauce. What else I should buy?

[Otter17]

I totally agree that location is numero uno!

[WIGuide]

Personally I believe in scents. I know there are days it doesn't seem to matter in the least. You could rub you bait in everything that bass hate...gas, oil, sunscreen, whatever and they'll still knock the crap out of it regardless. Lets face it though, there are WAAAY more days that are the exact opposite. Not only do I fish for the enjoyment of it, but I guide and fish tournaments and in those situations, something that could get even one more bite on a bad day is worth the investment. I always have a few bottles of Kick'n Bass in my boat and I use it on all baits. As long as you let it dry for a minute or two on a hard bait it'll stay on there and it's strong stuff.

Here's a few instances I've seen first hand that have confirmed my beliefs. First on happened during a tournament. Fishing had been tough going into the two day event, but I had figured out a little bit of a pattern that had been working with smaller boot tails. I had all mine doused in scent and although it was a grind, I managed to slowly put together a limit and cull a few times. I had been telling the non-boater I drew that day what I was doing and he was throwing the exact same size and color bait, yet was still struggling to catch fish. I even went as far as letting him use the exact weighted hook I was just in case that had something to do with it and still no result. A little later on I told him to try some of the scent on his bait and coincidence or not, within a few minutes he had caught a keeper. He had a few minute dry spell and decided to put more on his bait...within another minute or two he had another one. Unfortunately he ran out of time before filling his limit, but would he have caught the fish he did without the scent?

 

The second example comes from having fish in a tank as a kid. They were't bass, but were bullheads which I know rely more on their sense of smell, but I still feel it applies. Anyway, I had these fish in a small aquarium and I had a small panfish grub that I had put on a hook and cut the barb off and bent the hook down just to hold the bait on. If you put the bait in the tank without scent, they would immediately come up and hit the bait and after a short length of time would spit it right back out. You could repeat the same process multiple times with the exact same result, but after the 3rd or 4th drop they would completely lose interest to the point they wouldn't even look at it. If you pulled it out and put a little bit of scent on it and dropped it back in though, not only would they rush it and smash it, they didn't want to let go! You could literally hoist them out of the tank and would have to shake them to get them to let go. You could continue to drop it in and get the same results and they wouldn't leave it alone. 

 

Like I said before, it's not that those results are going to happen every time, but even if it occasionally has that effect, it's worth it to me. 

[Otter17]

28 minutes ago, WIGuide said:

Personally I believe in scents. I know there are days it doesn't seem to matter in the least. You could rub you bait in everything that bass hate...gas, oil, sunscreen, whatever and they'll still knock the crap out of it regardless. Lets face it though, there are WAAAY more days that are the exact opposite. Not only do I fish for the enjoyment of it, but I guide and fish tournaments and in those situations, something that could get even one more bite on a bad day is worth the investment. I always have a few bottles of Kick'n Bass in my boat and I use it on all baits. As long as you let it dry for a minute or two on a hard bait it'll stay on there and it's strong stuff.

Here's a few instances I've seen first hand that have confirmed my beliefs. First on happened during a tournament. Fishing had been tough going into the two day event, but I had figured out a little bit of a pattern that had been working with smaller boot tails. I had all mine doused in scent and although it was a grind, I managed to slowly put together a limit and cull a few times. I had been telling the non-boater I drew that day what I was doing and he was throwing the exact same size and color bait, yet was still struggling to catch fish. I even went as far as letting him use the exact weighted hook I was just in case that had something to do with it and still no result. A little later on I told him to try some of the scent on his bait and coincidence or not, within a few minutes he had caught a keeper. He had a few minute dry spell and decided to put more on his bait...within another minute or two he had another one. Unfortunately he ran out of time before filling his limit, but would he have caught the fish he did without the scent?

 

The second example comes from having fish in a tank as a kid. They were't bass, but were bullheads which I know rely more on their sense of smell, but I still feel it applies. Anyway, I had these fish in a small aquarium and I had a small panfish grub that I had put on a hook and cut the barb off and bent the hook down just to hold the bait on. If you put the bait in the tank without scent, they would immediately come up and hit the bait and after a short length of time would spit it right back out. You could repeat the same process multiple times with the exact same result, but after the 3rd or 4th drop they would completely lose interest to the point they wouldn't even look at it. If you pulled it out and put a little bit of scent on it and dropped it back in though, not only would they rush it and smash it, they didn't want to let go! You could literally hoist them out of the tank and would have to shake them to get them to let go. You could continue to drop it in and get the same results and they wouldn't leave it alone. 

 

Like I said before, it's not that those results are going to happen every time, but even if it occasionally has that effect, it's worth it to me. 

Great point! And Thankyou for sharing those examples as well WIGuide!

[Sam]

15 hours ago, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

I don’t believe 100% in scent catch more fish but I do believe in location. I don’t even use scent for most trip. With all that said for bass, I have Megastrike, Procure, JJ magic and 3 Spike-it Pens, For crappie I have 3 jars or nibbles, powerbait attractant and Slab sauce. What else I should buy?

Just James, I think you got it covered.

[TnRiver46]

On 3/24/2020 at 10:26 AM, Smokinal said:

I use Megastrike as well.

Scents do a couple of things that can be beneficial to us fishermen.

First, they can/do cover human scent...gas, oil, sunscreen, egg Mcmuffins, gatorade etc...

Second, if that scent makes a fish hold a bait just a fraction of a second longer, allowing you to feel a bite and set a hook, it was worth putting on the bait in the first place.

Now what kind of self respecting fish is turned off by mcmuffins and Gatorade????

[MickD]

There used to be lakes in MI, probably still are, where it's illegal to use scent.  I believe it works, but most of the time forget to try it.  I plan to do a little "rigorous" research on it this year.

[rtwvumtneer6]

On 3/24/2020 at 8:29 AM, A-Jay said:

I use Megastrike Original & Crayfish scent

I load my tubes up with this stuff after I get them rigged.  Is it overkill?  Probably, but try and stop me ?

[A-Jay]

2 hours ago, rtwvumtneer6 said:

I load my tubes up with this stuff after I get them rigged.  Is it overkill?  Probably, but try and stop me ?

On that note ~

Slime up 1/2 a foam ear plug (new or used) with Megastrike and slide it in the end of the tube.

Slows the fall & holds the scent.

Very Tricky . . .

A-Jay

[rtwvumtneer6]

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

On that note ~

Slime up 1/2 a foam ear plug (new or used) with Megastrike and slide it in the end of the tube.

Slows the fall & holds the scent.

Very Tricky . . .

A-Jay

We can all learn a thing or two from this guy ?? Thanks!